1. Field of the Invention
Methods and apparatuses consistent with the present invention relate to obtaining location information about a communications device. More particularly, the present invention relates to obtaining the location information about the communications device by acquiring a proximity location key from a proximity location tag proximate to the communications device, forwarding the proximity location key to a location information server, and correlating the proximity location key with location data included in the location information server.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)-network, voice data from a communications device, such as a telephone, is transmitted over the Internet or other packet switched network. Packets, i.e., discrete blocks of data, are routed between nodes of an Internet Protocol (IP)-network over data links that are shared with other traffic. In each node of the IP network, the packets are queued or buffered, which leads to variable delay of the packets.
The nature of an IP network makes it difficult, if not impossible, to determine to geographic location of an IP device, such as a VoIP telephone. As result, 9-1-1 emergency phone calls in the United States or Canada, for example, cannot be easily routed to a nearby dispatch call center, or cannot be routed to a dispatch call center at all. Such dispatch call centers are also known as Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP).
In some cases, the only feasible way to convey location information to the PSAP is for the emergency caller to “self-declare” their location by using some kind of Web interface. In other cases, the only feasible way to convey the geographic location of the emergency caller to the PSAP is for the caller to verbally inform the dispatcher at the PSAP about his or her physical location during the emergency call itself. However, sometimes this is not possible since the caller might be calling from an area he or she is not familiar with, and thus, the caller might not know his or her exact geographic location. In addition, sometimes verbally conveying the geographic location of the caller to the PSAP dispatcher might not be possible because the caller might be injured and therefore unable to speak, or the caller might be in duress situations that do not allow him or her to speak.
Global Positioning System (GPS) technology is sometimes used to locate a communications device in a cellular network, for example. However, such systems require “line of sight” to the appropriate GPS satellites. In addition, location determination based on GPS is often not possible when the communications device is located in an indoor environment, such as a home, office building, or shopping mall.